SE: Family Man

After a long day filled with classes and spring practices, while most of his teammates go home to their roommates, studies or favorite TV shows, K-State senior linebacker Charmeachealle Moore goes home to his wife, Victoria, and their two children.

He’s a family man – it’s a title he wears proudly.

“It’s amazing. I love being a dad,” Moore said to the group of reporters surrounding him at a recent K-State football press conference. “Even though I’m gone during the daytime, when I get home I do my part. I love playing with my kids, hanging out with my wife.”

It’s obvious Moore loves talking about his family. His smile says it all. From dinnertime to playtime to bedtime stories, after Moore hangs up his Wildcat jersey, he’s excited to get home to 18-month-old Chance and two-month-old Chayan.

Then, once they put the kids to bed, Moore said instead of watching TV together, Victoria has been helping him study film.

“My wife is like, ‘Why did you miss this? Why did you miss that?’ and I’m like ‘Babe, I’m not even supposed to make that play!’ Then she tells me I’ve got to get there anyways,” Moore said as he let out a laugh. “It’s great to have her by my side. She’s a harder critique than I am on myself, and I’m pretty tough. She’s tougher than me sometimes. We have a great balance, and I’m blessed to have her.”

This spring, Moore has cherished every moment he can get with his family as, most of the year, Victoria, a 2014 K-State graduate, and their children live in his hometown of Dallas, Texas, where the rest of their family resides.

The distance isn’t easy, but they make it work. They see each other as often as they can – almost every weekend during the football season – and know that, though it may be tough right now, they’re creating a better future for themselves and their children.

“It has its days. Right now they are here in Manhattan with me, they came back for the spring, but they’ve been in Dallas,” explained Moore. “When they’re down there, it’s kind of a strain not seeing them every day when I’m up here practicing and everything. I try to keep myself as occupied as I can so I won’t think about it. It’s challenging, but we are sacrificing now so we can live great later.”

Today, as Moore looks forward to his final season at K-State, he can’t help but look back at the winding path that got him to this point. His family has played a big role in helping him through some tough times.

Nothing has come easy for the 6-foot, 217-pound senior linebacker.

After playing in every game as a sophomore in 2013, Moore was forced to take a medical redshirt the following season when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He underwent intensive brain surgery in the fall of 2014 and wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to play football again.

Though coming back after surgery wasn’t easy, with the support of his family and his teammates, Moore decided he wanted to continue playing and was back in action just in time for the 2015 season. However, it took him time to get back into the flow of the game as he started the 2015 season by recording just three tackles in the Wildcats’ first three games.

Then, just before K-State’s Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State, Moore’s life was changed forever. On Sept. 24, 2015, he learned his father, Charmeachealle Moore, had passed away after suffering a heart attack.

Though he didn’t play in that game against Oklahoma State, Moore decided he wanted to finish his junior season despite the hard time he and his family faced after the loss of his father. He wanted to continue playing in his father’s memory.

“I just think it speaks to his character,” said fellow linebacker Will Davis. “He’s a great guy who has had to deal with a lot. I don’t think a lot of people would be able to go through that, be able to come back the way he has and perform the way he has. But he loves his teammates and he loves this team, so it just speaks for his character.”

Moore didn’t simply return to the field, he returned with a vengeance. After making 10 tackles in K-State’s win over Iowa State and six tackles in the win over Kansas, he closed the regular season with a bang by recording a career-best 17 tackles in K-State’s win over West Virginia and helping the Wildcats reach bowl eligibility.

But he didn’t stop there. Moore was named K-State’s Defensive MVP of the 2016 AutoZone Liberty Bowl after recording a team-best 10 tackles in the bowl game.

Despite the slow start to the season and the incredible challenge he was faced with during the middle of the year, Moore finished his 2015 campaign with a total of 55 tackles – tied for the second most on the team.

While he has leaned on his immediate family for support in hard times, Moore said his teammates have also been there for him through it all.

“We’re family,” he said about his team. “They’ve been there for me, and they still are there for me. It’s challenging. It’s challenging every day. I miss talking to my dad, calling him. We talked every day, so it’s been challenging, but if I’m having a bad day, I can go and talk to any of the coaches on the staff. The let me know there are going to be bad days, and I have to keep on fighting through.”

After everything he has been through, Moore doesn’t take anything for granted. He has gone all out during K-State’s spring practice slate and is ready to make an impact in his final season with the Wildcats.

From playing in his dad’s memory to making his children and his wife proud to always having teammates’ backs, every time he steps on the field he’s ready to give it his all.

“I’m really hungry; I have two kids and a wife, so that makes me hungry,” said Moore on his mindset heading into the 2016 season. “But I always want to do my best; I want to do whatever the team needs me to do. The coaches tell me to do my job and that’s what I’m trying to do, just do my job… I’m accepting everything that comes my way. I’m bought in 110 percent this year; I bleed purple.”

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BIG WEEKEND AHEAD FOR K-STATE ATHLETICS

With spring football practices coming to a conclusion this Saturday with the annual Purple/White Spring Game beginning at 1:10 p.m., in Bill Snyder Family Stadium, K-State Athletics has announced details surrounding a weekend full of events.

Tickets to the game are on sale for only $5 through the K-State Athletics Ticket office online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum. Gates to the stadium open at 11:30 a.m., on Saturday. There are a limited number of gates open around the stadium – M, P, R, T on the east side and B and D on the west side.

General admission seating will be available in Sections 3-9 on the west side and Sections 20-26 on the east side. The north and south end zones and east View Level seating will be closed.

The Purple/White Spring Game will be broadcast on various stations on the K-State Sports Network (affiliate list announced later this week) in addition to Sirius channel 106, XM channel 199. Pregame coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. The K-StateHD.TV broadcast with audio from the K-State Sports Network will begin at 1 p.m. The broadcast is available only to premium subscribers. To sign up, please visit www.k-statehd.tv.

From information on this weekend’s events from the Powercat Auction to parking and ticket information for the Spring Game and more, please click here.

We hope you enjoy K-State Sports Extra. We would like to hear your comments and any story ideas for future emails, so fire them our way. Contact Kelly McHugh-Stewart, or K-State Associate AD for Communications Kenny Lannou.